The Controversy Around Presidential Regulation 40 of 2013

The Controversy Around Presidential Regulation 40 of
2013: The Indonesian Army Opens the Way For Business In West
Papua

15/06/2013 Presidential Regulation
(Perpres) 40 of 2013, a new order issued by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono to “Build Roads to Faciltate the
Expansion of Development in Papua and West Papua
Provinces”, has been greeted with opposition and concern
by the Papuan people. Perpres 40 requests the Indonesian
military’s involvement in the technical implementation,
construction and supervision of road building projects.

The problem is, the military presence, with its shadows
of violence, is still a source of trauma for the Papuan
people. Moreover this development program is closely
associated with the vested interest of easing the way for
big business in the Land of Papua, and to put in place
Indonesia’s MP3EI (Masterplan to Accelerate and Expand
Economic Development) by building an investment corridor
through Papua and the Moluccas. Also it is no secret that
the military are involved in business deals over the use of
forest products and mining, protection rackets and illegal
business which more favours investors rather than supporting
the people. (see http://www.kontras.org/buku/Laporan_Digoel.pdf)

“At first glance Perpres 40 appears to have the usual
noble aim of opening up and connecting isolated areas with
centres of economic growth and facilitating the movement of
goods. However, on closer examination, this Perpres is
closely connected to the global economic agenda, especially
in the way it uses infrastructure developments along
economic corridors to speed up, expand and facilitate
economic liberalisation in the Land of Papua”, said
Franky, Director of Yayasan Pusaka, in Jakarta.

Papua is
rich in abundant natural resources, which is why it has
become a juicy target for big and wealthy companies to push
their way in, reap the profits and multiply their
investment. To make it easier for these investments to reach
centres of economic growth, strong institutions are needed
which can act swiftly and at low cost.

Maybe the usual
state companies and private contractors are not capable of
reaching areas which are often described as being
‘frontier’ zones, where security risks are rife and the
geography also presents challenges, and so there is a need
for institutions which already have experience and skill in
the security approach, such as the armed forces. At the same
time they can also continue their mission to keep building
up security along the border, extend government control and
lead the Papuan people to despair.

“Military strength
and the security approach are tools which government and big
business use to introduce, connect and integrate Papuans
[into the national economy] through building up a globalised
modern economy which it imagines will bring change for
Papuan people, such as the MIFEE megaproject in Merauke”,
Franky said.

The involvement of the military in this
MP3EI national priority project to construct an economic
corridor in Papua ignores the frequently-voiced demands of
Papuans to reduce the military’s involvement in social
affairs and the desire to develop Papua as a land of peace.

“Us Papuans also have our rights as citizens to a safe
and peaceful life, just as any other citizens do. Military
involvement in business does not square with the Papuan
people’s aspiration to withdraw military troops from
Papua, to promote peace across Papua” said S. Gebze, a
youth leader from Merauke.

Actually, before issuing
policy or development programs in the Land of Papua, the
government really should first consult and seek the
agreement of Papuan indigenous people, especially if the
policy concerns or affects the people or their environment.
“This obligation is in accordance with the spirit of the
Indonesian constitution and Papua’s special status as an
area with regional autonomy. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s
government should have done this before issuing Perpres 40
or other similar policies. It has already been shown that
top-down development and military involvement are a failed
strategy which conflicts with the process of building
democracy”, said Franky. A look at Conditions on the
Ground

Along Merauke’s border with Papua New Guinea
(Kondo, Jagebob, Bupul, Muting and the interior of Selil),
the government is currently working on infrastructure
projects, widening and repairing roads and bridges from
Merauke city to Waropko. The military presence can be felt
through dozens of security posts which have been set up
along this border road. They are not only interested in
controlling the area and keeping it secure, but are also
involved in the security business, collecting fees from
passing vehicles transporting fuel or forest products.

There have also been not infrequent cases where the
military have been involved in violence towards Papuans in
villages and forests along this road, even causing some
deaths.

There are already at least seven oil palm, sugar
cane and logging companies that are operating and clearing
the forest. Their owners are connected to local, national
and multinational corporations, such as Korindo Group,
Daewoo Group, Wilmar Group and Hardaya Group. These are the
people that are actually benefiting from the construction of
this economic corridor under the MP3EI, which is creating a
route for their business to reach warehouses, port
facilities and economic centres. They are protected by the
regulations which are supposed to constrain their
activities. They are accompanied by “members” of the
armed forces each time they go to negotiate for right to the
land, and visit them socially in the evenings. In each deal
they make the people are manipulated and deceived, their
voice stifled.

The local government has asked businesses
in the area to work with them to clear forest along the Sota
– Muting road between the security outposts. Their excuse
is to create a “community-owned rubber plantation” over
hundreds of acres of forest, rich with valuable gambier
plants and important sites for the Marind and Yei peoples.
This forest is being cut down supposedly for rubber trees
for local people, but there has been no environmental impact
assessment, no information about how land will be divided,
no information about where the rubber produced could be
sold, and in the end everyone suspects that this plan was no
more than a sweet fantasy taken from the speeches of
government workers, “members” of the armed forces, and
corporate brokers.

The government is also currently
clearing forests, swamps and grasslands for roads and
bridges that will connect the MIFEE areas: cluster V in
Okaba, Cluster VI in Wanam, Cluster VII in Tubang, and
Cluster II in Kali Kumbu, connecting Kampung Wayau to the
principal road(1), concreting over and dividing the Inggun
swamp into two parts with an earth road three kilometres
long(2), bulldozing the routes of the ancestors and other
important sites, without Environmental Impact
Assessments(3), going where they please. The people are left
to accept whatever random amount they are offered as
compensation for the wood that has been cut down.

Rahai
wood worth millions of Rupiah per cubic metre is dragged out
of the forest and brought to the city by wealthy people from
the transmigrant villages in collaboration with these
“members” that staff the security outposts. The
investors in food crops and sugar-cane such as Astra Group,
Mayora Group, Wilmar Group, Medco Group and CGAD Group, also
show no signs of being companies free of corruption that
will obey the rules. When a local government agency official
was asked about this issue, their answer seemed to ignore
the rights of the people in favour of the company’s
wishes. “We sincerely hope for and need to work together
with companies”, the official said.

(1) Malind people
living in Wayau didn’t want to share their opinions,
seeing as the local government officials are the ones that
should know more about the project and the police and
military are also there. But there is no-one who seems to
care about the damage and the threat that they will lose
their livelihood fishing in the swamp. Company officials,
from Hardaya Plantation (CCM Group) and PT. Anugerah Rejeki
Nusantara (Wilmar) also don’t seem to care, or are even in
agreement with the destruction which will help their
business interests.

(2) There are beautiful views over
the Inggun swamp, which is home to many local species of
fish, birds and other plants and animals which have yet to
be studied. But earth has been carelessly piled up in this
place, five metres wide and two kilometres long, dividing
the swamp in two. This new construction is sure to affect
the flow of water through the swamp, cut out links in the
swamp’s ecosystem, and limit the development and movement
of fish and other water-bound animals.

(3) Environmental
Impact Assessments (AMDAL) are obligatory for road-building
projects which could have important environmental or social
impacts.

[additional note from awasMIFEE: The
Presidential Regulation gives the order to build 40 roads
throughout Papua and West Papua provinces, The military are
given the responsibility to build many of these roads,
including the continuation of the border road from Waropko
to Oksibil, as well as hotspots well known for human rights
abuses from the military such as the central highlands and
Yapen Island, or very remote areas such as Asmat and Waropen
districts. The military will be paid for this work by
government funds. The roads to be built in Merauke Regency
are not to be built directly by the military, but as the
article above makes clear, they nevertheless act to
consolidate military business and enforce the top-down
development model which many Papuans, at least in Merauke,
have expressed their clear opposition to.]

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